If you’ve lived long enough, you come to understand that you have one life. But as a Christian, you know and believe that God promises another life that never ends. That’s my hope. But even as I write this, it pains me to think of leaving my family, especially those who don’t know God. Just because I have a plane waiting doesn’t mean I’m in a hurry to leave. Make your life matter. Leave a legacy of love and service. Hebrews 6:10 – “God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown …
Adjust But Don’t Give Up
There are some things about retirement that are wonderful and a couple of things that are taking some getting used to. I can remember when my dad retired. I was only 6 years old! I know weird huh. He had spent years working off shore. That meant three months out, one month home. We had a routine that got changed every three months. My dad missed work when he was home and missed us when he was gone. I get that. It was a big flip when dad was home. But we got used to it. And even though I …
Trusting Him for Then…and for Now
When they heard all he was doing, many people came to him … those with diseases were pushing forward to touch him. Mark 3:8a, 10b As word of His ministry spread, Jesus was forced more and more to retreat and pull back from the crowds. They pressed in and followed – not because they wanted to hear His teaching, but because they wanted to experience and see the miracles He could perform. They wanted the blessings…but they didn’t necessarily want HIM. It sounds a bit like the prosperity gospel teachers of today who try to “market” Jesus with promises of …
Dig Deeper
This has not been the best year for gardens in our area. Quite a few people have called in and others have brought in samples to be seen by the agents. When things are not so apparent we send the samples on to the disease lab for further examination. Even soil samples are being collected. If you scratch the surface and bring that soil in for testing you will get a far different result than digging deeper. Just a mere half foot deeper and your soil will show true nutrients. Oh beloved, God says to us all this morning, bring …
We Run Because We Know Him
“Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” John 17: 3 Eternal life is all wrapped up in knowing God. There is no other way to receive eternal life. It’s not enough to just believe Jesus is God’s son – even the demons do that. Real believing leads to knowing. To bowing and committing our lives to Jesus Christ. I want to ask you a very direct and pointed question today: Do you know God? DO YOU KNOW GOD? Not just …
Great Expectations
When I was a girl my dad had great expectations for me. I sang with Dinah Shore when her show aired. I danced with Lawrence Welk dancers. I dressed up when Sing Along with Mitch Miller was on. He thought surely I’d be famous. Maybe even Carnegie Hall was not too far fetched a place I’d go. We all have our ideas of what success looks like for our children. We surely want them to pay their bills, own a home and have a family. We want them to grow up and be nice people. Going to church is always …
Fall Devotions
Day 5 Well our week is coming to a close and I just want to take a minute to recap what we have read and hopefully been challenged with this week. Well, we know for sure I love fall! Everything fall! But I love everything fall because it reminds me so much of Jesus and His love for me and for you. The color changes that happen, the leaves that fall, the blankets we pull out and the cool breeze with the rays of warm sunshine…all Jesus. He truly loves us more than we understand most days. He …
Fall Devotions
Day 4 I lived in Houston, Texas for almost 8 years. The summers were so hot. That seems like not enough to describe them. I can remember walking outside and the heat and humidity being so high that it literally would take your breath away. You couldn’t do very many things outside because of the extreme temperatures and if you did you must take breaks often and make sure you drank lots of water to keep you from dehydration. It was so hot at times the power would go out in our homes due to the magnitude of power being …
Fall Devotions
Day 3 The temperature is changing and the mornings and evenings are cool. I LOVE IT!! This weather makes perfect camping weather. One of my favorite things to do is to go camping with my family and then get up early in the morning and grab a blanket and my bible and sit by the still smoldering fire and gaze over the water in front of me. I LOVE blankets! There is something comforting about being wrapped up in a blanket. Although there are good blankets the ones that are soft, thick and fluffy and then there are the ones …
Valuable Lesson Found in the Ice
Job 37:10 “God’s breath sends the ice, freezing wide expanses of water.” Not only did we have snow this winter, we had ice as well. I never thought about the ice being the breath of God until I read this scripture. I remember watching the television news stations and hearing about all of the people in the state that were without electricity because of the ice. I was fortunate enough to have only lost power for less than a day. We had about an inch and a half of ice in the Arkadelphia area. I sat in my living room …